HOW MUCH CAN I SUE FOR A DOG BITE?
Dog bite injuries can do serious damage to the victim. When a dog bite is minor, you probably don’t qualify for recovering compensation. However, many dog bite cases can result in significant compensation.
If you’ve recently been attacked by a dog in the Sacramento area, it’s worth taking the time to learn whether a lawyer can help you recover monetary damages for the incident.
CASES WHEN DOG BITES LEAD TO LARGE SETTLEMENTS
Dog bites are a type of personal injury case. As with any personal injury case, it’s safe to say that the more severe your injuries are, the more likely you are to qualify for dog bite injury compensation.
A dog bite injury can be considered severe in a few ways. If your dog bite injuries have resulted in any of these outcomes, you should know how to protect yourself.
THE VICTIM NEEDS IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION
When a dog bite is bad enough to merit immediate medical attention, you may need to recover personal injury compensation. Ambulance costs and emergency room treatment alone can leave you with thousands of dollars in medical bills, not to mention follow-up treatment and wages lost during recovery.
SURGERY IS NEEDED TO TREAT THE INJURY
Severe dog bite injuries often require surgery. Any dog bite brings a risk of serious infection, while facial dog bites also lead to a risk of a brain abscess. Surgery to treat dog bite injuries is often expensive. It may also result in the need for physical therapy to regain the use of the injured body part.
THE BITE CAUSED VISIBLE DISFIGUREMENT OR SCARRING
When a dog bite causes visible disfigurement or scarring, there’s a good chance of your injuries qualifying for compensation. Attempting to treat these consequences of a dog bite may result in costly cosmetic surgery procedures. In other cases, there may be little surgeons can do to repair the appearance of a dog bite injury.
THE VICTIM REQUIRES MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT
For many people, being attacked by a dangerous animal is a traumatizing event. Without intervention, an aggressive dog can easily kill an adult. A dog attack can have a devastating impact on the victim’s mental health and quality of life, often resulting in the need for ongoing mental health treatment.
WHAT DAMAGES CAN I PURSUE IF I HAVE BEEN BITTEN BY A DOG?
Dog bite victims often ask, “How much can I sue for a dog bite?” Dog bite injury compensation typically falls into two categories — economic and non-economic damages. The first reimburses you for financial costs. The second provides compensation for the mental and emotional toll of the incident.
In some dog bite cases, it’s possible for a court verdict to also award you punitive damages. This additional form of payment is reserved for cases involving severe negligence or an intention to cause harm, like if the dog’s owner ordered the dog to attack you.
MEDICAL EXPENSES
A dog bite lawyer can help you recover compensation for any medical expenses related to a dog bite. This includes:
- Ambulance costs
- Medical costs
- Surgery costs
- Therapist and specialist costs
- Medical device costs
- Medication costs
If you can prove that a medical cost was related to the dog bite injury, you can probably recover compensation for it.
LOST WAGES
You can recover compensation for lost wages and benefits due to a dog bite. This includes temporary lost wages during your recovery period, as well as lifelong wages if a serious dog bite leaves you permanently unable to return to work.
DISFIGUREMENT
Disfigurement takes a serious toll on a victim’s quality of life. It can also impact other areas of life, such as the ability to find a job. If a dog bite injury left you with serious scarring or disfigurement, you may be able to recover non-economic compensation.
PAIN AND SUFFERING
Pain and suffering is another common form of non-economic compensation. This money reimburses you for the ordeal of physical pain and the emotional toll taken by the process of undergoing medical treatment and recovery.
PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA
Psychological trauma can have a serious, long-term impact on a victim’s mental health. It often leads to the need for costly therapy sessions. In some cases, the trauma of a dog attack may leave a victim struggling to return to work or fulfill household responsibilities.
If you can demonstrate that a dog attack resulted in trauma, you can recover compensation for the impact on mental health and quality of life.
DOG BITE SETTLEMENT AMOUNTS IN SACRAMENTO
It’s hard to identify an average dog bite settlement amount in Sacramento. Dog bite compensation is based on many of the factors described above. That means case value is always unique and depends on the extent of the harm and costs associated with the injury.
Dog bite injury compensation usually comes through an insurance policy. Often, a dog bite is considered an instance of premises liability. That means the property owner failed to keep their property free of hazards, such as an aggressive dog.
As a result, insurance policy limits also impact the total amount you can obtain in a Sacramento dog bite case.
GET HELP FROM A SACRAMENTO DOG BITE ATTORNEY
If your health and finances have been harmed because of a negligent dog owner in Sacramento, a lawyer can help protect your rights. The best way to protect yourself is to contact a Sacramento dog bite attorney to discuss your options for obtaining compensation.
SOURCES:
Chen, T., et al. (2023). Surgical management of facial dog bite trauma: A contemporary perspective and review.
Exemplary Damages. Cal. Civil Code § 3294.
Staats v. Vintner’s Golf Club, LLC (2018) 25 Cal.App.5th 826.